“No power can bend a woman who has chosen to be free,” so said woman political prisoner Zeinab Jalalian in a message sent out of Khoy Prison, northwestern Iran.
Excerpts of her message:
When we glance over history, we can see that freedom-loving women have always struggled against dictatorial regimes throughout history. These brave women also registered March 8, with their own blood.
O’ oppressors, did you see that you cannot prevent women from demanding their rights by massacre, torture and jail? No poweror force can bend a woman who has chosen to be free.
I learned this truth when I was captive in the clutches of the oppressors of the Islamic Republic. They tore my clothes I was wearing. They blindfolded me. They chained my feet to the iron bed and they viciously tortured me. They hit the soles of my feet with cables so much that they swelled and were bruised. They tortured me so much that I could no longer feel anything. All my body was numb, and I had not control over my body…
This is Zeinab, Zeinab Jalalian, a Kurdish woman who has witnessed hundreds of crimes of the Islamic Republic in prison. I have witnessed their insults and accusations, torture and worst of all, the execution of ten of my cell mates. Is there any pain greater than this? Then, these oppressors want me to repent. Is it possible for some one like me who has witnessed so much oppression with my own eyes? Believe me, whenever the oppressors torture me more, I feel stronger and I feel more courageous.
Zeinab Jalalian – Khoy Prison
